1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to beam form and shoring structures, and particularly to beam form and shoring structures adapted to be moved as an integral unit from one concrete pouring station to the next.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In constructing floor slabs and beams for high rise buildings, parking garages, or the like, forming structures are required to support each concrete slab and beam as it is poured and during its curing period. For example, in constructing beam forms in a rectangle or bay defined by four columns, one method of the prior art involves piecemeal, in-place construction of the forms, using steel sections, scaffolding, plywood sheeting and the like. Once the concrete has been poured and cured, the whole structure is taken apart and as much of the structure as possible is salvaged for assembly at the next concrete pouring station. This involves an inordinate amount of manual labor and a considerable wastage of building materials.
To avoid the high material and labor costs of the process just described, other methods of the prior art utilize single, monolithic or integral forming structures which can be placed in position to both form and support the concrete structures during curing. Such forming structures can be removed and relocated or "flown" to the next concrete pouring station by utilizing cranes, or they can be moved internally on dollies, thus eliminating the need for cranes. This latter method of using dollies is especially efficient and can save the contractor large sums of money when forming parking garages where the equipment can be rolled to its new position using the ramps formed from earlier pours. With either method the form is lowered and thereby stripped from the poured structure. If it is to be flown, it is moved outwardly to a point where the hoisting cables are attached. It is then moved laterally to an adjacent bay, or hoisted upwardly for use at the next higher floor level. If dollies are used instead, the stripped form is lowered onto the dollies and transported to the next pour station.
Despite the great cost savings realized through use of such an integral form, it has been found difficult to precisely align such a form between the centerlines of the associated columns. A great deal of cutting and fitting and tailoring is encountered in exactly mating the beam form with the columns and, where adjacent floor slabs are to be formed, with the associated floor slab forms.